The sudden bloom of spring still arrives like a present for enduring those long dark months of sensory deprivation. Every time I turn the corner to see the magnolia down the street in full throbbing pink bloom, or a bobble-headed patch of sunny yellow daffodils poking out of the freshly scented soil, it seems like a miracle. Perhaps that’s why we often turn to the impossible beauty of flowers to celebrate our mothers on Mother’s Day. What lovelier or more appropriate way to honour the wonder of creation?

This spring, a clever young woman named Natasa Kajganic has come up with a whole new way for us to worship Mother Earth in the heart of the city with a concept called the Toronto Flower Market. Intended as a fun and inspiring shopping destination, much like a farmers market for fruit and vegetables, the
Toronto Flower Market
, which launches today and will be held one Saturday a month until Sept. 14 in a former warehouse space at 99 Sudbury Avenue, promises to be a veritable theme park of floral abundance. More than 75 varieties of cut flowers and 120 potted plant species — all grown right here in Ontari-ari-ari-o — will be on offer, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., along with a café, garden-inspired activities and live music.

Kajganic got the idea for creating a flower market after a trip to London, where a friend brought her to
Columbia Road market
, one of the world’s venerable markets devoted to flora. “There’s a real sense of magic and history there,” says Kajganic. “It was just as beautiful and nostalgic as you can imagine, with these winding cobblestone paths and flower vendors shouting and heckling, and just this mass of the freshest, most fragrant blooms. Everybody was walking around with these beautiful bundles of flowers wrapped up in craft paper and you just wanted to be carrying one.

“I couldn’t believe that this sort of experience just doesn’t exist here,” says Kajganic, who swiftly returned home and began intensive research into the Ontario growers’ industry. As she quickly discovered, there are more than 200 greenhouses in Ontario, 60 per cent of which are close to us in the Niagara region, yet we have little exposure to them in this increasingly market-mad city. Five local greenhouses are participating on opening day.

“Sure, there are places where florists shop that aren’t open to the public, and sellers up at Avenue Road and Davenport, but you don’t get that same exposure to the actual people who grow the flowers as a part of the market experience.”

Kajganic started making cold calls to the growers listed at
pickOntario
. “The reaction to what I was trying to do was overwhelmingly positive.”

She chose a location convenient to the growers and started exploring ways to better connect the greenhouse growers with their consumer audience. ‘Did you know 52 per cent of all Canadian flowers are grown right here in Ontario, and that the flower industry employs more than 10,000 people in the province?” asks Kajganic, with the fervency of the newly converted to a cause, which, in a way, market culture has become.

“It’s like with food at a farmers market. You want to talk to the cheese guy and educate yourself about the different varieties,” says Kajganic. “This is an opportunity for people to do the same, but with plants and flowers.”

What’s more, given that all the vendors at the Toronto Flower Market are local, and they will receive 100 per cent of the proceeds (less a fee to Kajganic for expenses), shoppers will be supporting their own community greenhouses. And the flora on offer will be market-fresh and earth-friendly rather than shipped and shopworn.

Early response from flower fans, too, has been encouraging. Four days after the Toronto Flower market site went up online, it had more than 1,500 visitors eager to visit the real thing.

“We all need the connection to things that grow,” says Kajganic. “From the smell of flowers, which of course is the basis of most perfume, to the visual delight of flowers that still inspire patterns in design and fashion, to the feel and touch of plants and soil and seeds.”

Says Kajganic of her hopes for the market: “What I want to see happen is people engaging with the actual growers, learning about what’s available, and enjoying themselves,” she says, adding with a wide smile, “and leaving with their arms just full.”

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